Saturday, May 14, 2016

The Courts Finally Get One Right On ObamaCare

Health Reform: The bad news for ObamaCare just got worse, as U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled that the administration has been improperly paying for one of the subsidy programs. But this case is about much more than how ObamaCare is financed.

As IBD noted recently, this case, which has flown under the radar since the House of Representatives filed it in 2014, could prove to be a major blow to the law, effectively killing one of its two major subsidy programs.

Under ObamaCare, those with incomes below 250% are eligible not only for fat subsidies on their insurance premiums, but also for generous subsidies to cover their out-of-pocket expenses, called “cost sharing” subsidies. ObamaCare reimburses insurers for the cost of both subsidy programs.

But while the law treats the premium subsidies as an entitlement program, the money spent on those “cost sharing” subsidies, the House argued, must be authorized each year by Congress, which never happened. So the administration, true to its lawless ways, simply decided that it would spend the money anyway. And so hundreds of millions of dollars has gone out in subsidies to about 60% of ObamaCare enrollees since 2014.

Collyer ruled that team Obama violated the Constitution. She said the law clearly states that ObamaCare’s cost-sharing subsidies require annual congressional approval.